RI COFFEE GROWERS TO EXPAND PLANTATIONS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, June 18 (ANTARA) - As their production has been  showing a downward trend over the past two years, coffee growers in Indonesia, the world's third largest coffee producer, want to increase the acreage of their plantations.          By increasing the acreage of their plantations, growers in the country expect to increase their production from this year's estimated 600,000 tons to between 900,000 tons and  1.2 million tons in the coming ten years.          "We will cooperate with the relevant ministries to prepare the needed land to expand coffee plantation acreage for farmers so that in the coming 10 years production could reach 900,000 tons to 1.2 million tons per annum," the Indonesian Coffee Industry and Exporters Association (AEKI) Deputy Chairman for Coffee Specialty and Industry Pranoto Soenarto said.          He said that expansion of plantation acreage was needed to produce better quality coffee beans.   Intensification with fertilizers could increase production quantity but it could not be guaranteed that it would also increase production quality.         "We want to increase the quality and quantity of production by increasing plantation acreage and using organic fertilizers," Pranoto said. But he did not mention the width of the needed acreage to increase coffee production up to 1.2 million tons in the coming ten years.          At present, he said, the country's coffee plantation areas cover 1.2 million hectares where over 90 percent were cultivated by smallholders.          This year, production is expected to drop to below previous estimate. AEKI has predicted   the volumes of the country's coffee production in 2011 at 600,000 tons only, lower than last year's volumes of 640,000 tons.          "Last year, the country's coffee production was about 640,000 tons," AEKI Chairman Suyanto Husein said here on Friday.          He said that his organization predicted early this year that Indonesia's coffee production could reach 700,000 tons but it was later revised down to 600,000 tons.  "There is an indication of decreasing production in a number of production centers in various regions due to bad weather," he said.          The AEKI chairman said that the drop in the coffee production was due in part to the increasing acreage of old plants besides unfavorable weather conditions.  While the old plant acreage is increasing, efforts to rejuvenate plants and launch intensification programs are still limited.          For this reason AEKI was planning to expand plantation acreage to increase production.          Besides in the drop of production, AEKI has also predicted a decline in the country's coffee exports this year.          The Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters and Industries has predicted the country's coffee exports in 2011 will reach only around 390,000 tons, down from last year's figure.           AEKI general chairman Suyanto Husein said the drop in exports is caused by declining production and increasing domestic consumption.       According to AEKI data, exports of coffee beans in 2010 reached 443,969 tons worth US$791.76 million. AEKI earlier last year predicted that Indonesia's coffee export volumes in 2010 would drop from 400,000 tons worth US$773 million per annum to 325,000 tons valued at US$650 million.          Indonesia's traditional coffee export markets, especially for Robusta coffee, included Japan, Latin American countries, South Africa and Europe. Its Arabica coffee was exported to Germany and the United States.  Indonesia's competitors for Arabica are Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, Costa Rica and El Salvador. Its competitor for Robusta is Vietnam. Vietnam is the biggest Robusta coffee exporter in Asia while the Latin American countries were big exporters of Arabica coffee.          Indonesia's Robusta coffee is produced by the provinces of Bengkulu, South Sulawesi and Lampung while the Arabica type by Aceh and North Sumatra. About 80 percent of Indonesia's coffee exports are those of the Robusta type while the remainders are Arabica.          Apart as producer of Arabica and Robusta coffee, Indonesia is well-known for having different types of coffee such as Toraja coffee, Aceh coffee, Mandailing coffee and Luwak (civet) coffee.          Up to now, Indonesia is still recorded as the world's third largest coffee producers after Brazil and Vietnam.          The drop of Indonesia?s coffee exports was not merely caused by declining production but also by increasing consumption at home. Suyanto Husein said that domestic coffee consumption that reached only 190,000 tons last year would increase to 210,000 tons in 2011.          "The trend in domestic coffee consumption is always up by around 20 percent a year but it is not always reflected in rising production of coffee beans," he said.          He said this happened because many people consumed coffee which is made in mixture with other beans. "It is not pure coffee. Some mix it with corn," he said.          Pranoto Soenarto, meanwhile said that the increasing coffee consumption did not only happen in the country but also in other countries.  This would push up the price of the world coffee because coffee production is fluctuating and dependent on climate.***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/19:57/a014 ) 18-06-2011 19:58: